"Harry? I – " Harry handed her the Marauders' Map before she finished the sentence.
" –go find Remus. We'll get rid of the book and then tell Dumbledore everyone's back."
Hermione didn't need the map – not that she thought she would. Remus could hardly get that far. Between his legs being unused for so long and the extra weight they were unused to supporting, Remus couldn't do much more the hobble away. Hermione got out of the Room of Requirement and could still see Remus, supporting himself against the stone walls as she walked.
She sped up her pace slightly and reached him in seconds. She tapped him on the arm and he turned around.
"Did you think I would just let you walk away and not come after you?"
"I had hoped you might respect my privacy."
"I know when you want privacy and when you want time for self-hate, Remus. I'm not going to let you wallow in guilt, or pain. And you should be on your way to the hospital wing, not your room."
"I don't need you and Poppy nagging me."
"I promise I won't nag if you let me help. Those clothes are going to need mending, at the very least let me do that for you."
"You are my student, Hermione. You know you can't be in my private quarters."
"There's no classes today, it's Saturday. Besides, Harry gave me the map. No one will find out."
"You're not risking it."
"I'm not giving you a choice. You can either go to the Hospital Wing or let me help you back to your room."
"I'll go to the Hospital Wing then." Remus didn't look at Hermione when he said it. He knew it would be an insult to her. She knew that he had no use for the Hospital Wing. He had spent so many years there during Hogwarts that preferred to treat himself in the privacy of his quarters. The only reason he would want to go there was to avoid Hermione's help and she knew it.
Hermione fell silent. She had been insulted by Remus' comment, but figured he had gone through a lot in the last two days turned month and wanted some time alone with his thoughts. At least, she hoped that was all. She continued to helped Remus to the Hospital Wing, her eyes peeled on the Marauders' Map to check for any nearby students that Remus could possibly run into. Thankfully most of Hogwarts' students were outside in the warm weather. Remus was almost doubled over with pain and exhaustion. Hermione had to half carry him up to a bed in the Hospital Wing.
Madame Pomfrey immediately rushed over.
"Another casualty of that book of theirs?"
"I'm afraid so."
"Very well, Miss Granger. Why don't you go and tell Professor Dumbledore his responsible teacher is back. Not much left you can do here."
Hermione looked questioningly at Remus, who had started to pull curtains around his bed.
"Thank you for…for getting me out of there, Miss Granger. I'll see you in class on Monday."
He closed the curtains. Hermione walked out of the Hospital Wing, looking behind her to see if Remus would call her back. He didn't.
Hermione found the Gryffindor common room empty except for Neville, Ron, Harry, and Ginny. Hermione handed back the Marauder's Map back to Harry, and to avoid questions about Remus, asked, "How did Dumbledore take the news?"
"Pretty well. He wanted to see the book, which at that point was a bunch of ashes. Snape was pretty upset Fred and George weren't fired…and that we weren't going to serve detentions. Fred and George have been sentenced to teach only from the textbooks now."
"Give it a week, they'll be trying something else." Ron added. Ginny rolled her eyes. "Funnily enough I left that out. We're trying to make Hermione feel better, Ron."
Neville sneezed.
"There also might be some…residual effects left over, according to Snape. Like, Neville keeps sneezing…you might be want to sleep more often…Remus might…be really hungry for cake...They should go away in a week or so."
"Harry has a sudden need to wear a dress…."
"At least I had clothes, Ron."
"Dumbledore's also going to let you drop the class. You'll be allowed to take the exams." Ginny added.
"How'd thing go with Remus?" Harry asked. Hermione frowned, deciding on best lie to tell. Harry caught her expression. "Not very well then?"
"Not….the best. He refused to let me take him to his room, he closed the curtain on me as soon as I helped him there! The he called me Miss Granger, Harry. Miss Granger! There was no one in there but Madame Pomfrey! He could have at least called me Hermione. I don't know what to do. I can't help him if he won't talk to me, but I don't want to force him to talk if he isn't ready…"
"Give him time, Hermione. He come round."
"You'll see him Monday, won't you?" Neville asked. "I can drop some stinksap by the door and buy you some time…"
"That's very Weasley of you," Ron said proudly.
"You could always take Harry's cloak and see him in the Hospital Wing tonight. Or we could beat up the twins and then visit and pretend we care about them…"
"I don't think the twins should be anywhere near Remus," Hermione said protectively. "He's not too fond of them right now and neither am I. And I don't think Remus will be in the Hospital Wing long. He doesn't have any major injuries."
"It will work out. Go see him Monday. I'll get the cloak for you."
"Thanks, Harry."
Hermione, as usual, was right. Remus was in the hospital wing for under two hours, long enough to be totally humiliated. Nothing was actually wrong with him, once he kept using and flexing his legs they should go back to their usual strength. He had a few cuts and bruises that she healed. But, as always, Poppy insisted on keeping him a little longer to make sure he really was alright. She had the house-elves fetch clothes from his room to replace his current ones which were filthy and ripped.
"You might need an expansion charm," Madam Pomfrey told him lightly.
That startled Remus a little. He hadn't really taken notice of is appearance since he had come back. What he hadn't noticed however, the scale had registered. Madam Pomfrey had weighed him and found he had put on an astonishing eighty-three pounds. Remus had heard the number, but hadn't quite registered how much that really was. He felt…heavier sure, but he hadn't really stopped to asses the damage. When he was eating he hadn't notice anything. The witches shouts had faded out to nothing, so his rising weight wasn't even on his mind.
His weight hit him when he changed into his new clothes to find they didn't fit. His pants were a few inches away from even coming near to closing, and his shirt, which he had struggled over ten minutes with to button, kept riding up over his stomach, and when he attempted to pull it down again, some of the strained buttons simply gave up and clattered to the ground. He was refusing to admit he needed an expansion
He had to face the truth, however, which was that his stomach was simply too big. He had gained weight all over, but his stomach had taken the brunt of it, bulging out from the rest of him. Perhaps it was a good choice that he hadn't allowed Hermione to stay. She hadn't seemed to notice much about his appearance and hopefully it would stay that way. As long as he could fix his clothes, perhaps it wasn't all that noticeable. Remus silently cast an expansion charm, which took is clothes out an inch or so, not enough, and Remus was forced to cast the spell again. His clothes still barely stretched over his stomach, but at least they closed.
That was one downfall of expansion charms. They could only be used so many times, depending on the fabric of clothes, before the cloth would lose all composition and tear apart. Normally, clothes such as his own could only be charmed twice and even that made them look a little more threadbare and worn then usual.
Madame Pomfrey didn't comment of the state of his robes. She let him out of the Hospital Wing with the warning not to stress him legs too much. The most he was allowed to do was walk and stretch a little until his legs got more accustomed to carrying him around. Remus would have to wait for his length to recover before he started to exercise off all the weight. Until then, Remus vowed, no eating anything besides bread and water and try to keep you distance from Hermione.
A/N: Thank you to all my reviewers/followers and readers!